The Rathbones Folio Sessions are dynamic literary events – panel discussions, readings, in-conversations and performances – featuring members of the international, multidisciplinary and cross-generational Folio Academy.

Rathbones Folio Prize Sessions 2022, in partnership with 5 x 15 Events

WATCH AGAIN – Creative Writing Masterclasses with our shortlisted authors, chaired by James Naughtie

‘Everyone has a book in them,’ they say. But not everyone manages to write it.

Top row l-r: Natasha Brown, Damon Galgut, Claire Keegan, Sunjeev Sahota

Bottom row l-r: Selima Hill, Philip Hoare, Gwendoline Riley, Colm Toibin

Chaired by the host of BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub, James Naughtie, we asked some of our finest contemporary authors, all shortlisted for the 2022 Rathbones Folio Prize, to explain how they translate what’s in their heads onto the page. Available online and free for all – watch again here.

History & Politics - with Prize Judge William Atkins, Damon Galgut, Claire Keegan & Sunjeev Sahota

First broadcast Wednesday 2nd March 2022

Our opening session focused on the themes of history and politics. Damon Galgut’s The Promise, Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These and Sunjeev Sahota’s China Room are radically political and devastating critiques of very different worlds, approached in very different ways. The authors discussed how they set about portraying the power dynamics of families across the generations. With additional contributions from Rathbones Folio Prize 2022 judge William Atkins.

Time and Place - with Chair of Judges Tessa Hadley, Philip Hoare & Colm Tóibín

First broadcast Wednesday 9th March 2022

The panel discussed how universal stories can be reflected through the prism of individual lives; the role that research plays, especially when writing about real-life figures and historical events; and how they go about portraying other eras and unfamiliar places.

Language and Style - with Natasha Brown, Prize Judge Rachel Long & Gwendoline Riley

Wednesday 16th March 18.30 – 19.30 GMT

The panel discussed form and structure in both poetry and prose, reflecting on the power of less over more, and the role of excess and the surreal.

Previous Sessions